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Seven seniors who have participated in the Schuler Scholar Program since arriving at Maine East High School announced their college selection yesterday as part of a ceremony at the school.

The Schuler Scholar Program annually identifies high-achieving and highly disciplined eighth graders and devotes the next four years to helping prepare these teens for admission to and success at the nation’s top private colleges and universities. This year the students and their college selection were:

Jaytiben Arora, Carleton College

Minna Behnan, College of the Holy Cross

Gisselle Garcia, University of Notre Dame

Jigar Gohel, Brandeis University

Mariam Kane, Bates College

Conrad Persowski, Bucknell University

Thushara Thomas, College of the Holy Cross

New Schuler Scholars attend a 10-day leadership camp in northern Wisconsin before their freshman year. “That camp lays the foundation for everything we do afterwards,” Vance says. “The scholars learn how to solve problems creatively. They learn how to go outside of their comfort zone and be OK with that. They learn leadership through collaboration and cooperation. They also learn that leadership isn’t just being the loudest voice in the room.”

That’s only the beginning. Throughout all four years at Maine East, Schuler provides 1-to-1 tutoring for its scholars. Reading enrichment. Writing enrichment. Lessons in quantitative reasoning. Preparatory work for SAT exams. They provide students cultural exposure activities such as attending opera and ballet performances.

The goal is to help students extend learning outside of the classroom and expose them to something new that will challenge them to think about the way they think about themselves and the world around them.

And then, there’s the more direct college preparation component. Schuler Scholars are placed in on-campus summer programs between sophomore and junior years, taking a course. This gives Schuler Scholars a chance to feel what it will be like to be a college student someday and to start asking: What do I want in a college, and what type of college would be the best fit for me?

When Schuler Scholars are juniors, the program takes them to visit top-tier campuses across the country, helps them prep for SAT exams, teaches them how to compose effective personal admission essays, how to navigate the daunting field of financial aid.